Thursday, 22 February 2018

Vapour Trails

I read, with interest, the article over on @Dick_Puddlecote’s
page discussing ‘Vaping Etiquette’. On the one side, we had Dick’s view that ‘cloud-chasers’
are ruining the vaping scene and handing ammunition to the prohibitionists.
Giving the opposing view was Dave Dorn’s opinion in the defence of ‘cloud-chasers’.

What struck me about this ‘conversation’ on vaping etiquette
was how the vaping community is being split on such a polarising viewpoint. I
would think that any of the puritans reading the article would be delighted to
be reading such a thing. I have little doubt that already such people are excitedly sending emails and memos to other in their clique on ways they can exploit
the situation to drive a further wedge between vapers. ‘Divide & Conquer’
is the phrase we are discussing here.

I have to admit that this whole debacle on ‘vaping etiquette’
seriously pisses me off. On the one hand we have plenty of good people out
there campaigning and advocating for tolerance to vapers, but on the other hand
we have many of those same people screaming intolerance towards vapers who
prefer to cloud chase. This simply has to stop.

When I sat on the board of the NNA, the first rumblings of
this so-called ‘vaping etiquette’ came to my attention. I made it clear at the
time that I had my reservations about developing an etiquette around vaping,
but I was in the minority. I left the NNA in the Summer of last year, but keep
on following (and supporting) the excellent work they do for vaping advocacy.
Since that time, the NNA have put out posters around vaping etiquette. I
couldn’t get behind it when I was a part of the NNA, and I still cannot get
behind that campaign now. It makes me uneasy and, in my humble opinion, is
unnecessarily alienating large portions of the vaping community.

I will admit it. I am an unashamedly proud cloud-chaser. It
has NOTHING whatsoever to do with the ability to blow mahoosive clouds of
vapour (I can do that quite easily and have many ‘drippers’ that I can build to
make clouds that would make even the biggest cloud-chasers jealous). No, the
reason I am a ‘cloud-chaser’ is because that is how I actually enjoy my vaping.
These days, I rarely build any drippers, preferring instead to use one of the
plethora of sub-ohm tank devices that I can easily buy the coils for online. It
is easier and so cheap that there is little point in building coils these days.
I still occasionally build a coil and ‘drip’, but that is more for keeping my hand
in on my ability to build coils. And there is the whole point. All vapers have
different preferences, be it flavour, nicotine content, VG/PG mix, power or cloud density.
There is no right or wrong way to vape. You vape because you enjoy it and you
vape because you have chosen to use an alternative to smoking.

I happen to enjoy filling my lungs up with enormous amounts
of vapour and blowing out huge clouds. I don’t do it to annoy anyone. I do it
because that is how I enjoy the vape. I could not give a single shit about
impressing anyone with the massive clouds. It is just a cloud and, more to the
point, it is harmless to me and harmless to anyone around me.

Do you really think the puritans care about whether you are
blowing massive clouds or small wisps ?

Of course they don’t. All they see is a ‘filthy nicotine
addict’ enjoying himself and, in their eyes, circumventing the smoking ban.
Even when you barely blow out any vapour at all, such puritans will still ‘tut-tut’
in their corner and give you disgusted looks. Many of them, emboldened by
prod-noses like ASH, will even pluck up the courage to get in your face about
it. It is what our world has become in that regardless of what you do to enjoy
yourself, there will always be some curtain-twitcher who will disapprove of
your habit. Maybe even emboldened enough to start (yet another) campaign group
which will campaign to lobby politicians to take away yet more of the freedoms
that we used to take for granted in this country. We have fought wars to
protect such liberties many times in our past, only to now slowly give away more
and more of our liberties to the permanently offended. You can see it most
clearly in all the campaigns against tobacco, alcohol, sugar, salt, fast-food
etc. The list is ever growing and if we are not careful there will be a future
where everything you eat, drink or choose to do will be carefully regulated by
the State.

It really is that simple. A vaping etiquette that
disapproves of a vaper that blows out larger vapour clouds makes as much sense
as pub alienating spirit-drinkers because beer drinkers are a nicer crowd (or
vice-versa). The only way that tolerance will come back to the general public
is to make people realise that vaping poses no threat. By toning down the
vaping habit/choices all you are doing is pandering to, and reinforcing, the already entrenched
view amongst many of the general public that vaping is dangerous.

I will end this blog with an anecdote (yes, I used that ‘much
abused’ word).

Many of you will know that I own a caravan that is situated
by the sea down in sunny West Wales. When I first bought that caravan, I would
frequently be found in the early evening at local bar near the site. When I
first started going to that bar, the weather was gloriously sunny and I was
quite content to sit out in the beer garden with my pint of Strongbow and a
vape. As it turned out, there were lots of other caravan owners on the same
site as me who also frequented that bar. As often happens, when vapers identify
other vapers, we all started graduating toward each other and chatting because
we all had something in common – we all vaped. The age-range of this group was
startling. We had some guys (and gals) in their early twenties, right through
the age range to the oldest of us who was 85. We dominated the
beer garden as a large group. The range of devices we used showed great variety
too. Some were using simple cigalikes, some box mods and/or MTL devices, whilst others (like me) preferred to use
high-powered cloud-machines. Anyway, after several weeks, the bar owner approached
us in the beer garden and informed us that he had no issue with any of us
vaping inside the bar itself. You see, he had seen the trade we were bringing
in because we had become an informal group (which was attracting more and more), meeting up as often as possible to
chat and drink (and vape) . Anyway, this went on for several months, until one
day we discovered that the bar owner was selling up and that new owners would
soon be in place. The new owners were not at all vape-friendly and we were
immediately exiled to the beer garden – just as the weather began to cool as
Autumn crept in. Not wanting to sit in a cold (and wet) beer garden to chat,
drink and vape, we all stopped going the bar and instead started meeting at
each others caravans to chat, drink and vape instead. The bar had instantly
lost a huge proportion of its best customers. Last month, I discovered that the bar had
closed down after the Christmas period had failed to save their dwindling
profits. All that happened because they alienated their best customers – the vapers.

Closing Comment

The vaping community has come a long way over the last
couple of years. We have successfully fended off many bans and made our voices
felt in the corridors of power in the
European Union, USA, Australia, New Zealand (and many others) as well as closer to home in the UK. To
spoil that progress by dividing the vape community now would be a disaster. Do
not alienate other vapers just because they enjoy vaping in a different way
than you do. That is simply showing the same intolerance towards fellow vapers
that you have accused the Public Health community (and Government) of showing
towards vaping in general. It is counterproductive and WRONG. Most vapers I
have met consider themselves to be libertarians.

About Me

I was born in Wales way back in the year of 1963. I am bilingual - fluent in both Welsh and English - but can also lay claim to having some limited conversational abilities in French, Dutch and German.
My favourite sport is Rugby Union, which I played for more than 30 years until forced to retire due to injury. Consequently, I am a bit bigger than your average guy in that I am 6 foot tall and currently weigh 170lbs.
I am an accomplished musician having played in several brass bands and orchestras, therefore I can play a multitude of musical instruments.